This is a fantastic cooler. People say 'you get what you pay for' and in some cases this is true, such as with big capacity PSUs or some cases, but when it comes to CPU coolers there are some absolute bargains to be had.
The problem comes when you have very specific requirements, such as in this case. I am building a bespoke SFF light gaming PC using a FM2+ socket APu (the AMD 7870K Kaveri) that needs overclocking to get the best out of it so it needs a great cooling system. Traditionally I would have used a closed water cooling loop but this time I am building it inside an old NES case that I had lying around as a bit of a retro revival.
Safe to say space is at a bit of a premium so when I worked out that the motherboard, heatsink and fan for this will fit in around 4cm's worth of height, it was a straighforward choice from a very limited range. It has good recommendations from other modders who have bought it and it runs silently, much quieter than the supposedly 'silent' ATX PSU that is temporarily powering it until I can get the DC convertor wired in for a properly silent case.
Only thing I would change is the colour of that fan - whoever thought that was a good thing must be mad but they definitely know how to make efficient and quiet cooling systems for chips that run quite hot normally, as this is absolutely perfect at that job. Reasonable price given the quality of of the heatsink, it really does surpass most air coolers on the market when you look closely at the polished finish and the fitment is both easy and rock solid given the custom backplate that Noctua provides with it. Simple to fit with four screws and can easily support the weight of the motherboard as well!
Going to benchmark it prior to overclocking but am confident that I can get 4GHz out of the APU/CPU with little additional airflow using this so expect to see a 10-15% speed increase including the onboard GPU as well when using 2400Mhz RAM.
| Brand | Noctua |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 14.4 x 9.19 x 3.68 cm; 417.3 Grams |
| Item model number | NH-L9a |
| Manufacturer | Noctua |
| Series | NH-L9A |
| Voltage | 12 Volts |
| Wattage | 2.52 watts |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 417 g |